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SHALL  WE  HAVE  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION 
IN  THE  RURAL  DISTRICTS? 

Address  t>y 

ANDREW  S.   DRAPER  LL.B.   LL.D. 
Commissioner  of  Education  of  the  State  of  New  York 

AT  THE 

State  Association  of  School  Commissioners 
and  Superintendents 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Wednesday  evening,   November  6,  1907 


- 10,000  (7-6338) 


fC  a 


£>7 


I  £*5v 

OF  THE     "        \ 

UNIVERSITY   } 

OF 


SHALL  WE  HAVE  SCHOOL  SUPERVISION  IN  THE 
RURAL  DISTRICTS? 

Difficult  as  it  is  for  me  to  come  to  make  this  address,  it  was 
quite  impossible  to  resist  the  wishes  of  the  president  of  your  asso- 
ciation and  the  members  of  your  committee  on  legislation,  who 
have  been  so  much  interested  in  the  subject  which  I  am  desired 
to  discuss.  It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  attend  all  State  educational 
meetings, —  to  say  nothing  of  local  meetings,  but  if  my  coming 
will  indicate  my  special  respect  for  this  association  because  of  its 
consistent  and  persistent  attitude  concerning  the  better  supervision 
of  the  rural  schools,  I  shall  be  very  glad  that  I  came  and  attempted 
to  render  the  requested  service. 

The  excellence  of  schools  depends  upon  the  supervision 

All  who  have  any  understanding  of  our  schools  see  that  their 
excellence  depends  upon  the  quality  and  the  closeness  of  the 
"  supervision  " ;  and  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  schools  of  New 
York  know  that  there  is  no  school  supervision,  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts of  the  State,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  really  capable  men 
and  women  of  the  schools  now  use  that  term. 

What  is  school  supervision? 

School  supervision  brings  the  knowledge,  the  experience,  and 
the  spirit  of  a  first  class  teacher  to  the  everyday  operations  of 
the  schools.  A  school  superintendent  does  not  make  it  unneces- 
sary to  have  the  best  teachers ;  he  can  not  make  up  for  the  short- 
comings of  weak  teachers;  but  he  helps  to  prepare  teachers,  he 
helps  to  adapt  teachers  to  particular  places,  and  he  helps  to 
develop  in  the  teachers  the  best  teaching  of  which  they  are  capable. 
He  lays  out  the  work  of  each  school ;  he  equalizes  advantages  to 
all  the  schools  under  his  supervision.  He  advises  trustees.  He 
adjusts  any  difficulties  which  may  arise  between  the  teacher  and 
child,  or  the  teacher  and  parent.  He  must  visit  the  school  often 
in  order  to  keep  himself  fresh  and  progressive  in  his  work.  He 
must  have  all  the  teachers  together  occasionally  in  order  to  effect 


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oneness  of  purpose  and  inspire  alertness  and  enthusiasm  in  all 
of  the  schools.  He  must  quicken  pupils  as  well  as  teachers,  and 
to  do  this  he  must  be  a  clean,  attractive,  and  forceful  character, 
who  appeals  to  the  buoyancy  and  ambition  of  youth.  He  must 
be  a  worker.  He  must  be  an  intelligent  friend  of  true  sport.  He 
must  be  a  scholar;  he  must  know  the  literature  of  the  schools;  he 
must  be  specially  proficient  in  educational  history,  and  pedagogi- 
cal theory  and  method;  and  he  must  keep  up  with  progress  in 
the  organization  and  work  of  schools  in  other  districts,  in  other 
states,  and  in  other  countries.  He  must  have  a  share  in  educa- 
tional meetings  in  the  State  and  nation  to  the  end  that  he  may 
possibly  contribute  to  their  potential  strength,  and  certainly  to 
the  end  that  he  may  get  from  them  the  aids  which  will  help  him  to 
do  the  most  for  his  own  schools.  Withal,  he  must  be  a  sane  and 
balanced  character,  who  is  familiar  with  affairs,  who  is  neither 
an  eccentric  nor  a  bombast,  who  can  move  among  the  people  on 
at  least  equal  terms,  to  whom  teachers  may  be  naturally  disposed 
to  look  for  guidance,  and  to  whose  judgment  and  influence  parents 
may  be  glad  to  submit  the  future  of  their  children.  One  can  not 
be  all  this,  nor  any  appreciable  part  of  it,  unless  he  is  a  balanced 
character  and  is  a  student  of  it ;  nor  unless  he  has  had  experience 
at  it.  He  must  have  judgment  and  discrimination.  He  must  be 
able  to  resist,  as  well  as  to  do.  He  can  not  fill  this  place  and 
divide  his  time  and  thought  with  any  other  business.  He  can  have 
no  other  interest  which  will  take  his  time,  or  his  thought,  or  which 
will  warp  his  judgment,  for  the  place  demands  all  the  thought,  and 
all  the  force,  of  an  all-around  man  or  woman  who  has  become  an 
expert  in  the  organization  and  administration  of  schools.  What 
such  an  one  can  do  for  the  schools  can  not  be  fully  described; 
indeed,  it  can  hardly  be  appreciated  by  one  not  familiar  with  the 
complex  educational  activities  of  the  country.  But  that  is  what  we 
mean  by  school  supervision. 

No  such  supervision  in  the  farming  districts 
Such  supervision  has  developed  very  rapidly  in  the  cities  of  the 
State  in  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years.  It  is  this  that  has  made 
for  the  quite  uniform  excellence  of  the  city  schools.  It  is  this,  at 
least,  that  has  made  the  schools  notably  good  in  the  cities  where 
the  best  superintendents  have  been  long  continued.  Other  ex- 


planations  are  often  given  for  it;  the  true  explanation  is  in  the 
qualities  and  opportunities  of  a  real  superintendent,  and  of  actual 
and  expert  supervision  long  continued. 

This  thing  has  grown  in  the  cities  with  their  own  growth. 
It  has  grown  out  of  the  ready  facilities  for  intercommunication, 
out  of  the  great  resources,  and  out  of  the  obvious  needs.  But 
there  has  been  no  substantial  advance  in  supervisory  plans  in  the 
rural  districts  in  all  the  history  of  New  York  schools.  It  is  true 
that  we  have  had  supervisory  school  officers  in  all  parts  of  the 
State  from  the  very  beginning;  but  progressive  ideals  in  super- 
vision have  forged  ahead  in  the  cities  and  not  at  all  in  the  country. 

When  the  State  first  began  to  develop  systematically  and  aid 
schools,  in  1795,  town  commissioners,  with  trustees  in  subdistricts, 
were  provided  for.  When  we  began  to  bind  the  disconnected 
schools  together  in  a  State  system  it  was  done  through  super- 
visory officers.  The  act  of  1812,  which  provided  for  the  first 
State  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  in  the  country,  also 
provided  for  the  election  in  each  town,  at  town  meeting,  of  three 
commissioners  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  schools  of  the  town. 
Two  years  later  this  act  was  amended  so  as  to  provide  that  there 
should  also  be  elected,  at  each  town  meeting,  not  to  exceed  six  in- 
spectors of  town  schools,  who  should  in  some  indefinite  way  act 
with  the  three  town  commissioners. 

The  beginning  of  the  county  or  district  commissioner  system 
appears  in  chapter  260  of  the  laws  of  1841,  which  provided  that 
the  board  of  supervisors  in  each  county  should  appoint  a  deputy 
superintendent  of  common  schools  for  the  county,  and  where  there 
were  more  than  two  hundred  schools  in  the  county  they  should 
appoint  two  deputies.  The  idea  prevailed  that  the  State  Superin- 
tendent should  superintend  the  school  interests  of  the  State 
through  these  county  deputies. 

In  1843  the  offices  of  town  commissioners  and  inspectors  were 
abolished,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  election  in  each  town 
of  a  "Town  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools." 

In  1847  tne  office  of  county  deputy  superintendent,  or  county 
superintendent,  as  it  had  come  to  be  called,  was  abolished. 

In  1854  the  State  Department  of  Public  Instruction  was  organ- 
ized and  the  office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
was  created. 


6 

In  1856  the  office  of  town  superintendent  was  abolished  and  that 
of  county  or  district  school  commissioner  was  created. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  we  have  had  legal  supervision  of 
schools  by  town  officers  from  1795  to  1856,  by  county  or  district 
officers  from  1841  to  1847  and  from  1856  to  the  present  time,  and 
by  a  State  officer  from  1812  until  now. 

The  town  officers  were  not  compensated  and  there  was  no  as- 
sumption that  they  should  be  professional  school  men.  Indeed, 
in  their  days  there  was  no  thought  that  the  schools  called  for  any 
other  oversight  than  that  which  any  layman  could  give  them. 

The  same  thought  persisted  when  the  county  or  district  com- 
missioners were  provided  for.  They  were  compensated,  but  the 
statutes  and  the  records  will  be  searched  in  vain  for  any  educa- 
tional or  official  requirements  of  eligibility  or  for  any  indication 
that  they  were  to  give  their  undivided  time  to  the  service  of  the 
schools.  There  was  then  no  divorce  between  the  management  of 
the  schools  and  the  management  of  party  politics,  and  party  ser- 
vice was  often  rewarded  with  the  office  of  school  commissioner. 
It  was  a  particularly  progressive  district  that  recognized  the  need 
of  an  experienced  teacher  in  the  office  of  commissioner,  and  there 
was  an  exceptionally  aggressive  educational  sentiment  where  the 
men  who  controlled  the  dominant  party  organization  felt  con- 
strained to  bend  their  course  to  that  need. 

The  main  function  of  the  school  commissioner  was  to  issue 
licenses  to  teach,  and  that  he  did  with  notable  alacrity  to  voters, 
and  to  daughters  of  families  where  there  were  voters.  Once  in  a 
while  it  is  said  that  the  State  has  taken  away  from  the  school 
commissioner  the  main  function  of  his  office.  It  is  not  so  said 
where  the  commissioner  is  a  real  superintendent  of  schools.  So 
long  as  the  commissioner  is  not  a  professional  school  man  and 
can  not  superintend  schools,  so  long  as  his  main  interest  is  to  get 
delegates  enough  to  be  renominated  and  votes  enough  to  be  re- 
elected,  so  long  as  he  can  not  and  does  not  care  to  discriminate 
about  who  shall  teach  the  schools,  so  long  as  he  would  put  a 
good  teacher  at  the  disadvantage  of  competition  with  an  endless 
number  of  people  who  can  not  teach  at  all,  the  irresponsible  certifi- 
cating of  teachers  can  not  be  left  to  him.  And  the  gratifying  fact 
is  that  no  good  school  man  wants  it  left  to  any  one  who  can  not 
discriminate,  and  that  the  man  who  can  discriminate  wants  his 
discretion  limited  and  guided  by  all  practicable  standards  and 
safeguards. 


The  school  commissioners  and  better  rural  supervision 
In  the  last  twenty  years  there  have  been  no  teachers  certificates 
issued  except  pursuant  to  credits  gained  in  State  uniform  teachers 
examinations  or  in  the  State  academic  examinations.  In  the 
meantime  the  training  of  teachers  has  gone  steadily  forward.  The 
result  is  a  teaching  force  that  is  reasonably  well  prepared  in  sub- 
ject-matter. There  are  not  many  teachers  in  the  State  who  are 
without  a  reasonable  grasp  of  their  work.  Indeed,  I  am  glad  to 
believe  that  the  average  of  proficiency,  as  evinced  by  the  ability 
to  pass  examinations,  is  unequaled  in  the  country.  Nor  am  I  dis- 
posed to  doubt  that  the  average  of  strictly  professional  proficiency 
is  quite  as  high,  and  very  likely  higher,  than  that  of  any  other 
equal  number  of  teachers  in  the  country.  This  fact  of  itself  makes 
a  professional  leadership  imperative.  The  time  was  when  a  school 
commissioner  who  was  a  fair  man  was  acceptable  even  though  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  philosophical  side  or  the  history  of  educa- 
tion, because  no  one  else,  not  even  the  teachers,  knew  much  of 
it;  but  the  time  has  come  when  a  commissioner  who  knows  little 
or  nothing  of  those  things  is  conspicuously  unfit,  because  the  pro- 
fessional men,  and  the  successful  merchants  and  manufacturers, 
and  the  newspapers,  and  the  women's  clubs,  and  the  labor  organiza- 
tions, and  most  certainly  the  teachers,  know  a  great  deal  about  them. 
It  is  exceedingly  gratifying  that  the  movement  for  reform  has 
been  led  by  the  majority  of  the  school  commissioners  themselves. 
In  several  annual  meetings  of  your  association  you  have  spoken 
decisively  for  the  reform.  You  have  drafted  bills  and  done  what 
you  could  to  secure  favorable  action  by  the  Legislature.  The 
officers  of  the  Education  Department  would  hardly  have  had  the 
courage  to  push  a  proposition  which  seemed  aimed  at  you,  but 
for  the  definite  and  decisive  attitudes  of  your  association 
and  its  committees. 

This  was  creditable  to  you  but  it  was  not  to  be  unexpected. 
The  majority  of  any  such  body  of  officers  will  inevitably  be  upon 
the  right  side ;  men  who  are  conscientious  will  stand  for  whatever 
may  seem  to  be  for  the  good  of  the  people ;  and  the  clearer  heads 
will  not  be  unable  to  see  that  whatever  is  of  advantage  to  the 
people  will  be  of  more  advantage  to  themselves.  Of  course  there 
are  school  commissioners  who  can  not  see  this  very  clearly,  and 
there  are  some  who  are  foolish  enough  to  think  they  can  pretend 


8 

one  thing  and  do  another  without  the  world  knowing  it.  But  I  am 
glad  to  say  that  the  overwhelming  number  of  school  commis- 
sioners have,  conscientiously  and  uppn  their  own  initiative,  led  in 
the  movement  for  a  more  professional  and  more  complete  super- 
vision of  the  rural  schools. 

Possibly  I  should  say  that  I  do  not  think  the  present  situation 
is  the  fault  of  any  one.  It  is  one  of  the  things  that  has  continued 
out  of  the  past  because  of  the  obvious  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
remedying  it.  It  is  difficult  for  sentiment  to  concentrate  in  the 
farming  regions.  It  was  to  have  been  expected  that  the  country 
would  be  behind  the  cities  in  such  a  movement  as  this.  Much  less 
am  I  disposed  to  censure  school  commissioners.  They  have  fol- 
lowed a  system.  Many  of  them  have  done  better  than  the  system. 
And  the  very  best  of  them  could  not  apply  the  methods  of  modern 
supervision  to  their  work  because  the  number  and  remoteness  of 
the  schools  under  their  charge,  and  the  indifference  of  the  people, 
made  it  altogether  impossible.  But  the  time  has  come  when  the 
telephone,  rural  free  delivery,  the  trolley  car,  and  good  roads 
ought  to  pretty  nearly  eliminate  the  difficulties  about  the  "  country 
school  problem."  When  nothing  but  reasonable  legislation  is 
necessary,  we  should  have  it. 

The  State  Grange  and  better  country  schools, 

All  that  has  been  done  by  the  Education  Department  has  been 
in  accord  with  the  State  Grange  as  well  as  with  the  school  com- 
missioners. The  Grange  is  the  strongest  and  most  intelligent  rep- 
resentative of  agricultural  sentiment  in  the  State.  I  should  not 
be  disposed  to  push  any  movement  having  special  reference  to  the 
rural  schools  which  did  not  commend  itself  to  that  great  organiza- 
tion. The  late  master  of  the  State  Grange,  Mr  George  A.  Fuller, 
whose  lamentable  and  almost  tragic  death  cut  short  a  career  of 
unusual  usefulness,  frequently  solicited  the  activities  of  the  Educa- 
tion Department  in  this  behalf,  and  the  present  officers  of  the 
Grange  seem  no  less  interested  than  their  late  and  lamented  chief. 

What  is  proposed 

The  reform  proposed  is  embodied  in  what  came  to  be  called  the 
"  Page  Bill,"  because  offered  in  the  last  Senate  by  Senator  Alfred 


R.  Page,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Education.     Its 
essential  propositions  are: 

(a)  That  the  supervisory  districts  be  made  much  smaller. 

(b)  That  the  office  of  school  commissioner  be  abolished  and  that 

of  school  superintendent  for  each  of  the  smaller  districts  be 
created. 

(c)  That  definite  professional  qualifications  for  the  office  of  district 

superintendent  be  fixed. 

(d)  That  the  district  superintendent  be  chosen  for  five  year  terms 

by  a  district  board  created  for  the  purpose. 

(e)  That  the   salary   of  the   district   superintendent  be  $1500,   of 

which  $1200  shall  be  paid  by  the  State  and  $300  by  the 
supervisory  district,  and  that  his  expenses,  up  to  a  maxi- 
mum of  $300,  be  audited  and  paid  by  the  State. 

(f)  That  the  superintendent  shall  not  be  involved  in  the  manage- 

ment of  any  other  business,  and  shall  give  his  time  unre- 
servedly to  the  duties  of  his  office. 

(g)  That  the  functions  and  duties  of  the  office  of  school  commis- 

sioner, now  provided  by  law,  be  transferred  to  the  office  of 
district  superintendent  and  in  addition  thereto  that  the  re- 
sponsibilities  of   a    real   school   superintendent   be   imposed 
upon  him. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  measure  beyond  these  propositions  and 

what  is  subordinate  and  necessarily  incidental  thereto,  but  I  must 

go  into  greater  detail. 

Supervisory  districts 

There  are  113  school  commissioner  districts  in  the  State.  It  is 
proposed  to  make  about  210  supervisory  districts,  so  that  each 
district  will  have  from  40  to  60  schools  instead  of  twice  or  thrice 
that  number,  as  now.  The  districts  are  to  be  laid  out  by  the  board 
of  supervisors  of  the  county  and  the  present  school  commissioners. 
Towns  are  not  to  be  divided.  There  would  be  from  two  to  five 
towns  in  a  district,  according  to  size  of  towns.  A  specific  number 
of  supervisory  districts  is  allotted  to  each  county.  Of  course  this 
number  could  be  changed  and  the  districts  in  a  county  readjusted, 
but  it  would  have  to  be  done  by  legislation. 

There  are  10,626  school  districts  in  the  State,  and  therefore 
each  school  commissioner  has  an  average  of  almost  100  schools  to 


10 

supervise.  Anything  like  an  equal  division  is  impossible.  Often 
a  commissioner  has  from  150  to  180.  Under  the  new  plan  each 
superintendent  would  have  an  average  of  50  schools,  and  for 
obvious  reasons  the  division  of  territory  and  schools  may  be  much 
more  uniform. 

The  reports  of  the  school  commissioners  to  the  State  Department 
for  the  year  ending  July  31,  1907  show  that  in  that  year  7773 
districts  were  inspected  at  least  once  each.  The  number  is  larger 
than  usual  for  there  was  some  Department  urgency  about  the 
matter.  Even  so,  there  were  2853  districts  which  received  no  visit 
whatever  from  a  supervisory  officer.  The  reports  also  show  that 
upon  the  average  the  visits  were  made  at  the  rate  of  four  in  a  day. 
Now  let  one  remember  the  distance  between  schools;  contemplate 
a  thirty  minute  visit  to  a  school  once  in  a  year,  sometimes  by  a  lay- 
man in  school  matters;  note  that  one  school  in  four  is  not  in- 
spected at  all;  refresh  his  recollection  of  what  the  law  exacts  of 
school  commissioners  concerning  the  buildings  and  grounds,  the 
equipment,  the  teaching  and  the  teacher ;  and  then  think  of  the  com- 
plex demands  of  modern  school  work  and  the  vital  needs  of  com- 
petent supervision;  and  one  will  not  be  ignorant  of  reasons  for 
some  shortcomings  in  the  country  schools. 

The  new  plan  would  make  it  quite  possible  actually  to  superin- 
tend the  work  of  the  schools,  whereas  that  is  now  quite  impossible. 
The  superintendent  could  visit  the  schools  every  month  or  two, 
and  it  would  be  practicable  to  hold  meetings  of  teachers  say  three 
or  four  times  a  year  for  conference  and  instruction  without  their 
being  away  from  home  beyond  the  day.  A  very  vital  part  of 
efficient  school  supervision  is  in  frequent  meetings  of  teachers, 
which  are  not  "  institutes  "  or  lectures,  but  gatherings  where  the 
actual  conditions  of  the  local  situation  are  discussed  and  where 
new  plans  are  laid  which  may  be  really  worked  out. 

The  district  superintendent 

It  was  arranged  in  the  bill  last  winter  that  a  superintendent 
should  be  of  age,  a  resident  of  the  State  but  not  necessarily  of  the 
supervisory  district,  and  that  within  the  year  preceding  his  election 
he  must  have  been  employed  as  a  city  or  village  superintendent, 
a  school  commissioner,  a  principal  of  a  high  school,  or  must  possess 


11 

such  other  qualifications  as  the  Commissioner  of  Education  should 
prescribe,  and  that  no  one  should  be  disqualified  because  of  sex. 

The  provision  relating  to  the  fixing  of  additional  qualifications 
of  eligibility  by  the  Commissioner  of  Education  was  understood 
by  all  school  men,  but  naturally  enough  not  so  well  by  all  others,  to 
relate  to  the  holders  of  the  higher  grade  of  teachers  certificates 
who  might  not  have  been  teaching  in  the  preceding  year.  It  was 
inserted  against  my  wish.  The  arrangement  in  general  was  so  as 
not  to  exclude  from  the  position  in  the  first  term  any  school  com- 
missioner or  any  prominent  teacher  now  in  office. 

This  arrangement  has  been  most  criticized, —  it  has  been  particu- 
larly so  criticized  by  the  officers  of  the  State  Grange,  because  school 
commissioners  were  made  eligible.  Some  of  your  number  insisted 
upon  this.  It  was  done  to  give  some  who  were  examining  teachers 
and  were  without  certificates  themselves  five  years  in  which  to 
qualify.  The  objection  to  it  is  not  without  reason.  It  illustrates 
the  proposition  that  when  you  are  going  to  do  a  thing  which  ought 
to  be  done  you  had  better  do  it  directly,  completely  and  forthwith. 
What  was  thought  would  gain  support  for  the  measure  really 
brought  more  criticism  than  support  to  it. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  conditions  of  eligibility  may  be  much 
simplified  and  made  more  effectual  by  providing  that  those  whom 
we  may  justly  classify  as  the  professional  teachers  of  the  State  — 
that  is,  those  who  hold  life  certificates  or  may  obtain  them  —  shall 
be  eligible.  This  would  include  the  graduates  of  colleges  and 
normal  schools,  the  holders  of  State  certificates,  and  the  holders 
of  first  grade  uniform  certificates  which  are  renewable  indefinitely 
without  examination.  This  would  provide  a  sufficient  supply  of 
eligible  candidates;  at  the  same  time  it  would  reasonably  guard 
the  position  from  unqualified  candidates;  and  it  would  have  the 
merit  of  resting  upon  a  logical  basis  and  of  being  readily  under- 
stood and  remembered. 

Tenure  and  obligations 

It  has  been  assumed  that  five  years  is  a  reasonable  term  of  office 
of  a  district  superintendent,  and  that  he  should  give  his  exclusive 
attention  to  the  duties  of  his  office;  that  he  should  have  unques- 
tioned professional  qualifications;  that  he  should  have  reasonable 
protection  in  his  tenure ;  and  that  he  should  give  his  whole  being 
to  the  upbuilding  of  the  schools. 


12 

It  is  very  far  from  my  wish  to  say  anything  that  can  be  dis- 
agreeable to  any  one,  but  the  whole  subject  is  opened  and  the  public 
is  bound  to  know  that  what  is  the  matter  with  the  country  schools 
is  not  the  mere  fact  that  they  are  in  the  country,  but  the  fact  that 
the  districts  are  territorially  so  large  as  to  preclude  real  supervision, 
and  that  it  very  often  happens  that  the  supervisory  officers  are  not 
only  not  as  professionally  competent  as  many  of  the  teachers  whom 
they  are  set  to  supervise,  but  also  that  they  often  use  their  official 
connection  with  the  schools  to  promote  the  interests  of  some  other 
business  which  they  regularly  carry  on.  Last  winter  members  of 
the  Legislature  were  importuned  by  school  commissioners  to  op- 
pose the  passage  of  the  Page  bill  on  the  ground  that  it  would 
prevent  them  from  carrying  on  other  businesses.  If  farmers  and 
legislators  are  to  listen  to  that  they  can  hardly  expect  much  im- 
provement in  the  country  schools. 

I  intend  no  reflection  upon  perhaps  one  half  of  the  school  com- 
missioners who  are  reasonably  well  adapted, —  many  of  them  ex- 
ceedingly well  adapted, — to  their  work,  and  who  pursue  it  loyally 
under  discouraging  conditions,  when  I  say  that  the  other  half  seem 
to  be  incapable  of  appreciating  the  fact  that  their  employment  is 
a  professional  one.  The  lay  character  of  the  office  in  the  early 
days,  before  expert  school  supervision  had  developed  even  in  the 
cities,  when  a  country  commissioner  was  only  expected  to  look 
rather  autocratic  and  grant  teachers  certificates  to  the  respectable 
and  the  needy,  is  still  marching  on  in  the  very  sections  of  the  State 
where  the  percentage  of  illiteracy  is  the  highest  and  the  need  of  a 
more  perfect  school  system  is  most  imperative.  It  is  notoriously 
the  fact  that  between  the  size  of  the  commissioner  districts,  lack 
of  requirements  for  eligibility,  the  remoteness  of  schools,  politics, 
and  private  businesses,  the  country  schools  in  large  parts  of  this 
State  will  not  be  adequately  organized  or  supervised  before  some 
very  decisive  steps  are  taken.  And  it  is  no  less  notorious  that  the 
most  opposition  to  the  reform  comes  from  the  sections  of  the  State 
which  need  it  most. 

Dilatory  reports  and  correspondence 

It  should  be  pointed  out  that  the  size  of  districts  makes  it  prac- 
tically impossible  for  a  school  commissioner  to  have  the  affairs  of 
his  district  completely  in  hand,  and  so  to  get  and  transmit  in- 


13 

formation,  or  redress  grievances  and  remedy  difficulties,  in  the 
time  expected  by  the  swift  activities  of  our  modern  life.  On  the 
1 5th  of  September,  the  day  fixed  for  filing  reports  for  the  year 
ending  July  3ist,  the  reports  of  87  commissioners  out  of  113  had 
not  been  received,  and  in  practically  every  case  the  excuse  made 
was  that  reports  in  correct  form  could  not  be  procured  from  the 
trustees.  In  a  smaller  district  the  supervisory  officer  could  per- 
sonally see  the  trustees  and  instruct  and  assist  them  about  reports. 
It  would  be  quite  practicable  to  hold  meetings  of  trustees.  That  is 
a  very  important  consideration,  standing  by  itself  alone.  Every- 
thing might  be  done  much  more  speedily  and  reliably;  and  when 
millions  of  dollars  are  paid  out  upon  the  basis  of  the  reports  it  is 
apparent  that  expedition  and  accuracy  are  no  less  important  to  the 
proper  transaction  of  the  State's  business  than  to  that  local  effi- 
ciency which  is  the  right  of  the  people  who  are  interested  in  partic- 
ular schools. 

This  inevitable  dilatoriness  affects  the  renovation  of  property, 
the  employment  of  teachers  for  each  new  year,  and  it  affects  very 
vitally  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  attendance  laws.  With 
a  larger  percentage  of  illiteracy  in  the  country  than  in  the  cities, 
there  is  crying  need  of  more  superintendents  in  the  country  to  aid 
in  the  work  of  bringing  all  the  children  of  school  age  into  the 
schools.  In  innumerable  ways  it  prevents  the  "  habit  of  taking 
care "  and  impedes  the  general  efficiency,  which  are  as  needful 
in  the  work  of  the  schools  as  in  any  other  work  which  men  and 
women  undertake  to  do. 

Choosing  the  superintendent 

We  come  now  to  the  method  of  choosing  the  superintendent  in 
the  smaller  supervisory  district.  It  may  be  said  at  once  that  it  is 
the  most  difficult  matter  in  the  whole  undertaking.  But  we  are 
not  to  stop  for  that  reason.  It  is  as  important  in  the  country  as 
in  the  cities  that  partizanship  shall  not  make  patronage  of  super- 
visory or  teaching  positions  in  the  schools.  The  two  leading  political 
parties  have  agreed  to  that  in  State  conventions.  The  principle  is 
now  pretty  well  observed  in  the  cities.  School  boards  look  for 
the  best  superintendents  wherever  they  may  be  found;  assume  that 
no  one  whether  living  in  the  district  or  out  has  any  claims  upon  the 
office;  expect  superintendents  to  attend  to  their  business  and  re- 
frain from  activity  in  running  party  organizations  or  directing 


14 

politics ;  then  reason  that  it  makes  no  public  difference  what  their 
personal  political  logic  or  affiliations  may  be,  and  assure  them 
protection  as  long  as  they  show  that  they  can  work  harmoniously 
with  other  people  and  steadily  give  added  enthusiasm  and  efficiency 
to  the  schools.  In  what  way  can  superintendents  be  chosen  so  as 
to  have  it  so  in  the  country?  If  we  can  in  some  way  professionalize 
the  school  superintendent  in  the  country  we  shall  have  as  good 
schools  there  as  any  where. 

Various  plans  have  been  suggested  and  considered.  The  one 
which  seemed  to  have  most  to  commend  it  was  to  elect  at  the 
annual  town  meetings  or  the  general  election,  a  supervisory  district 
board,  two  members  in  each  town,  which  should  contract  with  a 
legally  qualified  superintendent.  This  would  make  a  district  board 
of  perhaps  from  four  to  ten  persons.  It  seems  as  though  if  they 
were  nominated  and  elected  for  the  sole  purpose  of  choosing  a 
school  superintendent,  they  would  be  likely  to  be  responsible  men 
or  women  and  that  they  would  perform  their  duty  with  some  ap- 
preciation of  its  responsibility.  It  even  seems  as  though  there 
might  often  be  a  disposition  between  party  leaders  or  caucuses  to 
agree  upon  men  of  character  and  avoid  party  contests  over  their 
selection,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  in  filling  judicial  vacancies.  In 
any  event,  it  is  intended  that  these  district  boards  shall  have  no 
other  function  than  the  selection  of  a  school  superintendent,  and 
it  is  believed  that  such  selection  may  be  left  with  such  a  board,  as  is 
done  in  the  cities  and  union  school  districts,  with  better  promise 
of  desirable  results  than  would  be  likely  to  come  from  choosing 
the  superintendents  at  popular  elections  or  from  any  other  method 
which  has  been  proposed. 

The  finances  of  the  scheme 

It  is  not  apparent  how  anybody,  unless  it  be  the  State,  can  reason- 
ably object  to  the  financial  part  of  the  proposition,  and  the  State  has 
shown  its  ability  to  stand  much  more  than  is  here  proposed.  That 
is  that  each  superintendent  shall  be  paid  $1500  per  year,  of  which 
the  State  shall  pay  $1200  and  the  supervisory  district  $300,  and  that 
he  shall  also  have  the  expenses  which  he  actually  incurs,  up  to  a 
limit  of  $300,  paid  by  the  State  upon  approved  vouchers. 

It  is  true  that  a  county  which  now  pays  $200  per  annum  to  each 
school  commissioner  would  be  called  upon  to  pay  a  very  few  hun- 


15 

dred  dollars  more  to  a  larger  number  of  superintendents  at  $300 
each.  In  no  case  could  it  be  a  matter  at  all  serious.  And  the 
increase  might  be  more  than  offset  by  the  discontinuance  of  the 
teachers  institutes  and  the  necessity  of  paying  the  teachers  for  a 
week  in  which  they  do  not  teach.  This  is  not  a  fanciful,  it  is  a  sub- 
stantial, offset,  for  it  would  reduce  the  annual  expense  of  each 
school  district  by  the  teachers'  wages  for  a  week;  or,  much  better, 
it  would  put  another  week  of  efficiency  into  the  work  of  a  school 
term,  which  now  averages  much  shorter  than  is  desirable.  Again, 
the  requirements  as  to  the  service  to  be  rendered  by  the  superin- 
tendent, the  fact  that  his  actual  expenses  would  be  reimbursed, 
and  that  financially  it  would  be  the  same  to  him  if  he  traveled  as 
if  he  did  not,  would  make  what  the  county  would  put  into  super- 
vision much  more  potential  than  what  the  county  now  puts  into  it. 
Yet  again,  the  rural  counties  need  not  lie  awake  over  what  the 
State  puts  into  school  supervision,  when  they  pay  so  little  of  the 
revenues  of  a  State  which  raises  its  $3,5,000,000  per  year  by  taxes 
upon  corporations,  and  inheritances,  and  liquors,  and  practically 
nothing  upon  real  estate  and  the  businesses  in  which  the  rural  dis-^ 
tricts  are  specially  concerned. 

The  main  financial  question  in  this  proposition  is  for  the  State; 
but  a  State  which  is  spending  $50,000,000  per  year  for  schools,  and 
which  is  paying  right  from  its  treasury  $6,000,000  or  $7,000,000 
each  year  for  the  support  of  its  direct  educational  activities,  can 
well  afford  to  add  less  than  $200,000  more  to  make  certain  that 
the  larger  sums  are  wisely  expended  and  to  increase  the  efficiency 
of  the  schools  which  serve  such  a  large  portion  of  its  people. 

The  objections 

Fair  discussion  meets  objections  squarely.  If  there  is  any  valid 
reason  why  this  proposition  should  not  be  adopted  it  will  be  vastly 
better  for  you,  for  the  Education  Department,  and  all  the  other 
interests  concerned,  that  it  be  known  now,  rather  than  after  the 
measure  has  become  a  law.  I  shall  state  all  the  objections  that  I 
have  heard  of,  either  by  correspondence,  through  the  Legislature, 
or  by  wireless  telegraphy.  It  may  be  said  at  once,  however,  that 
the  favorable  opinions  expressed,  both  in  number  and  in  weight,  by 
those  who  have  really  looked  into  the  matter,  are  in  as  high  a  pro- 
portion as  ten  to  one  opposed. 


16 

From  a  half  dozen  school  commissioners  objections  to  the  qualifi- 
cations required  for  eligibility  to  the  proposed  superintendencies, 
to  the  provision  that  one  may  be  eligible  who  does  not  reside  in  the 
district,  to  the  provision  of  $300  for  expenses  on  the  ground  that 
it  is  too  small,  to  the  provision  that  one  must  give  his  whole  time 
to  the  duties  of  the  office,  have  been  received.  I  think  the  allowance 
for  expenses  is  reasonable,  and  that  the  other  provisions  referred 
to  are  of  the  highest  educational  necessity. 

From  farmers  there  has  come  some  objection  to  creating  ad- 
ditional public  officers.  This  is  a  valid  objection  unless  the  reasons 
for  it  are  strong.  Your  association  and  I  think  they  are  convinc- 
ing. 

Some  farmers  object  to  choosing  the  superintendent  by  a  board 
elected  by  the  people,  rather  than  by  the  people  themselves.  A 
school  superintendent  must  be  an  expert  if  efficient.  A  board  can 
consider  the  qualities  of  different  available  candidates  and  can  go 
out  in  search  of  a  candidate  and  negotiate  with  the  one  who  seems 
best  adapted  to  the  situation.  The  people  and  party  conventions, 
and  caucuses,  can  not.  As  already  observed,  this  provision  is 
perhaps  the  most  difficult  one  in  the  whole  scheme.  It  follows  the 
method  in  the  cities  and  the  union  school  districts  having  super- 
intendents, where  it  works  satisfactorily  and  seems  to  be  the  best 
method  of  selection  suggested. 

Some  criticism  of  the  expense  to  the  supervisory  district  is  made, 
which  I  have  already  referred  to. 

One  grange  objects  because  the  choice  of  superintendents  would 
be  "  limited  to  a  certain  class  prescribed  by  the  State,"  and  insists 
that  that  would  take  the  control  of  the  schools  away  from  the 
people.  There  is  nothing  new  about  limiting  the  appointment  of 
school  superintendents  to  persons  having  defined  qualifications.  If 
the  right  to  elect  unqualified  superintendents  is  to  be  successfully 
insisted  upon,  there  is  small  hope  of  improving  the  country  schools. 

I  am  informed  that  some  opposition  to  the  measure  has  come 
from  the  principals  of  high  schools  in  union  school  districts  having 
less  than  5000  inhabitants,  and  therefore  no  separate  superintendent 
of  schools.  If  this  is  so  it  is  more  personal  than  professional  and 
ought  not  to  count.  It  would  be  because  it  is  not  desired  that 
such  high  schools  shall  be  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  new  super- 
intendents. They  are  now  within  the  supervision  of  the  school  com- 


17 

missioners,  and  so  there  would  legally  be  no  change;  but  actually 
there  might  be  more  oversight.  It  has  been  proposed  to  leave  such 
small  union  districts  out  of  the  new  supervisory  districts.  The 
law  now  authorizes  superintendents,  and  the  State  meets  a  part  of 
the  cost  for  superintendents,  in  all  cities  and  in  all  union  districts 
with  more  than  5000  inhabitants.  All  of  the  rest  of  the  territory 
of  the  State  including  the  union  districts  of  less  than  5000  people, 
is  within  the  school  commissioner  districts.  The  line  must  be  drawn 
somewhere.  There  is  no  apparent  reason  why  it  should  be  changed. 
The  Legislature  has  been  asked  to  allow  a  "  partial  supervisory 
quota  "  to  union  districts  of  less  than  5000  inhabitants.  Doubtless 
the  principal  of  a  small  high  school  is  very  often  inadequately  paid. 
I  wish  he  might  be  better  paid.  Doubtless,  too,  he  is  required  to 
teach  many  different  subjects  nearly  or  quite  every  hour  in  the  day, 
when  he  should  have  certain  hours  for  the  general  duties  incident 
to  his  position  as  principal  and  quHe  apart  from  his  teaching.  I 
will  do  what  I  can  to  help  him  have  it  so,  for  I  know  that  that  is 
essential  to  the  efficiency  of  his  school.  But  it  is  clear  to  me  that 
every  educational  consideration  would  keep  the  high  schools  in  the 
small  villages  related,  just  as  far  as  possible,  with  all  of  the  primary 
schools  in  the  surrounding  neighborhood.  The  influence  of  these 
high  schools  upon  all  these  little  schools  is  much  needed.  It  is 
well  if  the  children  in  the  roadside  and  four-corner  district  schools 
can  think  of  their  going  some  day  to  the  village  high  school.  These 
high  schools  and  primary  schools  should  all  articulate  together  just 
as  much  as  possible,  at  least  until  the  village  gets  so  large  as  to 
require  a  superintendent  of  its  own  and  must  act  by  itself.  Even 
then  that  high  school  may,  to  its  own  and  their  advantage,  continue 
to  have  relations  with  the  surrounding  schools,  and  by  that  time 
another  village  has  generally  developed  a  high  school  which  may 
enter  into  helpful  relations  with  the  neighboring  district  schools. 

It  has  been  assumed  without  any  reason  in  some  quarters  that  this 
movement  means  a  change  and  consolidation  of  our  system  of  rural 
school  government.  It  means  nothing  of  the  kind.  If  it  took  away 
from  any  school  district  the  right  to  manage  its  business  affairs, 
choose  its  own  officers,  who  contract  with  its  teacher  and  look  after 
the  interests  of  its  school,  I  would  oppose  it.  It  seeks  to  do  nothing 
but  make  the  teaching  better  and  improve  the  educational  value  of 
the  school.  I  do  not  favor  the  township  or  any  other  consolidated 


18 

system  of  school  government.  I  never  expect  to  be  one  who  will 
take  from  any  people  the  right  to  manage  the  business  affairs  of 
their  own  school,  so  long  as  they  have  a  property  valuation  equal 
to  the  support  of  a  suitable  school,  and  are  disposed  to  maintain 
such  a  school.  I  have  never  urged  the  consolidation  of  little  schools 
in  order  to  make  graded  schools.  I  do  not  believe  that  a  school 
must  be  a  big  one  in  order  to  be  a  good  one.  So  long  as  the  people 
of  towns  and  districts  agree  about  it  they  should  have  schools  where 
they  want  them.  When  issues  arise  among  the  people  over  the 
matter  it  is  our  official  duty  to  help  settle  them.  But  I  will  not  let 
any  pedagogical  theory  of  mine  consolidate  districts  against  the 
will  of  the  people  concerned  when  neither  their  motives  nor  their 
intelligence  can  be  impeached.  I  am  not  saying  that  consolidations 
shall  not  be  made  but  only  that  the  people  shall  not  be  forced  to  do 
it.  Nor  have  I  ever  urged  that  one  district  contract  with  another 
for  the  education  of  its  children,  and  that  they  be  carried  consid- 
erable distances  every  day  to  be  instructed.  There  are  manifest 
disadvantages  and  some  dangers  about  it,  which  more  than  offset 
any  disadvantages  in  a  system  which  puts  a  school  within  walking 
distance  of  every  home  and  encourages  a  people  to  manage  the  busi- 
ness affairs  of  their  own  school.  But  there  is  nothing  about  this 
which  is  inconsistent  with  more  efficient  professional  supervision 
of  all  the  schools.  If  the  people  in  the  country  were  to  object  to 
that,  they  would  object  to  a  thing  which  can  not  in  the  least  in- 
terfere with  their  management  of  their  own  school  affairs,  and  they 
would  object  to  the  very  thing  which  makes  for  the  quicker  effi- 
ciency of  the  schools  in  the  cities  and  larger  villages.  The  people 
who  live  in  the  country  must  distinguish  between  the  business  side 
and  the  professional  side  of  school  administration  or  there  can  be 
no  substantial  improvement  in  their  schools. 

It  has  been  said  that  this  proposition  enlarges  the  powers  of  the 
Education  Department  and  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education. 
The  criticism  is  wholly  without  reason.  It  gives  the  Department 
no  authority  and  it  imposes  upon  it  no  responsibility  which  is  not 
now  conferred  or  imposed  by  the  statutes,  with  the  bare  exception 
that  it  empowers  the  Commissioner  to  appoint  a  superintendent 
where  the  local  authorities  fail  to  do  so,  and  personally  I  should 
much  prefer  that  this  should  be  given  to  the  county  judge,  as  is  the 
case  when  there  is  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  school  commissioner. 


19 

I  am  bound  to  add  that  there  is  an  opposition  to  this  proposition 
which  gives  no  reasons.  That  is  the  opposition  of  men,  not  now 
very  large  in  numbers  and  certainly  not  very  sagacious  in  leader- 
ship, who  know  more  and  think  more  of  a  little  patronage  than  of 
the  efficiency  of  the  schools,  and  who  reason  that  school  commis- 
sioners of  their  own  selection,  traveling  about  the  country  and 
mixing  politics  with  education,  are  indispensable  adjuncts  of  a 
political  organization.  Open  and  rational  opposition  is  to  be 
honored  and  welcomed.  I  am  by  no  means  opposed  to  political 
organization  on  a  basis  of  common  decency,  but  happily  I  have 
lived  long  enough  to  know  that  opposition  to  an  educational  ad- 
vance for  any  such  reason  as  that,  must  in  the  end  surely  defeat 
its  own  senseless  aims.  It  is  only  a  matter  of  time.  In  the  end 
such  opposition  will  be  overcome  because  it  is  bad  politics,  bad 
sense,  and  bad  morals. 

School  possibilities  in  the  country 

All  the  weak  schools  are  not  in  the  country.  All  the  schools  in 
the  country  are  not  poor  schools.  The  rural  environment  is  quite 
as  favorable  to  schools  as  the  situation  in  the  cities.  The  rural 
teachers  are  not  generally  incapable.  They  are  commonly  from 
good  families,  for  the  most  part  are  well  bred,  and  generally  are 
very  well  trained.  There  are  quite  as  many  inherent  disadvantages 
in  the  great  graded  schools  as  in  the  small  ungraded  ones.  The 
job  hunter  would  haunt  the  schools  in  the  cities  even  more  than 
those  in  the  country,  if  the  sentiment  of  the  people  would  allow  it. 
The  cities  give  much  moneyed  support  to  the  country  schools.  The 
State  is  quite  as  much  interested  in  the  country  as  in  the  city  schools. 
There  is  no  reason  known  to  me  why  we  should  not  have  as  uni- 
formly efficient  schools  in  the  country  as  in  the  cities,  unless  it  is 
because  the  conservatism,  which  looms  large  in  the  farmer,  and  the 
disposition  to  mix  schools  with  politics,  are  allowed  to  obstruct  the 
policies  which  are  necessary  to  the  making  of  the  best  schools. 

Legislation  necessary 

If  there  is  more  that  can  be  done  by  the  State  Education  Depart- 
ment, without  additional  legislation,  to  improve  the  country  schools, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  what  it  is.  The  resources  of  administration  have 
been  nearly  or  quite  exhausted.  What  is  done  has  to  be  done 


20 

through  school  commissioners,  and  they  think  the  exactions  are 
already  too  heavy  and  that  the  pay  is  too  small.  The  requirements 
are  necessarily  heavy  because  of  the  extent  of  territory.  The  pay 
is  small  for  qualified  men  giving  their  time  to  the  office,  but  it  is 
ample  for  unprofessional  or  part-time  service.  The  Department 
has  applied  educational  tests  to  the  teachers  until  there  is  often 
a  scarcity  of  teachers.  The  very  advance  in  the  standing  of  the 
teachers,  which  has  been  going  on  for  twenty  years,  emphasizes 
both  the  lack  and  the  need  of  a  professional  leadership.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  in  some  districts  the  situation  has  become 
abhorrent.  Nothing  but  legislation  will  relieve  it. 

Legislation  to  aid  the  situation,  such  as  bills  to  prescribe  qualifica- 
tions for  school  commissioners  and  exacting  their  entire  time,  has 
been  proposed,  but  has  come  to  no  result  because  of  the  opposition 
of  personal  interests.  Last  winter  a  comprehensive  measure  was 
defeated  in  the  Senate  without  being  much  considered  or  well 
understood. 

Something  decisive  must  be  done  next  winter  or  delayed  for 
three  years,  because  in  the  event  of  no  action,  school  commissioners 
will  be  elected  on  the  old  basis  at  the  next  general  election. 

The  bill  of  last  winter,  with  some  minor  modifications,  will  be 
presented  again.  It  is  a  far-reaching  measure.  But  it  is  logical, 
practicable,  and  right.  No  other  State  which  maintains  the  district 
as  the  unit  of  school  government  has  gone  as  far  as  this  bill  goes. 
But  that  is  no  reason  why  New  York  should  not  do  it.  With  the 
support  which  has  heretofore  been  given  it,  and  with  the  additional 
support  which  is  steadily  gathering  about  it,  there  should  be  little 
question  about  its  becoming  a  law.  In  any  event,  it  is  for  us  to 
follow  our  judgment  and  let  the  responsibility  fall  where  it  ought. 

Conclusion 

The  proposition  which  your  committee  formulated  a  year  ago, 
and  which  I  have  discussed  with  considerable  detail  tonight,  is  a 
drastic  one.  Something  substantial  will  come  of  it.  It  is  not  yet 
in  hard  and  fast  form.  I  shall  not  be  wedded,  and  you  should  not 
be,  to  any  particular  point  in  it  if  any  one  can  bring  forward  a 
modification  that  will  be  better.  The  discussion  of  it'  has  been  in 
good  spirit.  The  discussion  should  continue.  There  is  educational 
value  even  in  the  discussion.  I  have  reasoned  all  along  that  it  would 


21 

be  better  for  the  Education  Department  to  act  with  the  School  Com- 
missioners Association  in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  leave  the  State 
Grange  to  come  to  its  support,  before  urging  it  in  the  Legislature. 
That  came  about  last  winter.  Both  organizations  formally  ap- 
proved of  it.  The  officers  of  both  organizations  appeared  before  the 
legislative  committees  and  urged  its  passage.  I  have  recently 
advised  with  the  officers  of  the  State  Grange  and  am  urged  by  them 
to  go  on  with  the  movement,  and  assured  that  they  will  give  it 
whatever  aid  they  can.  Unless  that  support  and  yours  is  with- 
drawn, we  will  go  forward  with  the  measure  with  every  disposition 
to  make  it  as  perfect  as  possible,  but  with  every  purpose  to  prevent 
the  starch  being  taken  out  of  it  so  that  it  will  accomplish  nothing 
when  it  gets  through.  If  it  does  go  through  in  substantial  form, 
it  will  open  a  new  epoch  in  our  rural  education.  And  sooner  or 
later  something  very  substantial  in  this  direction  will  be  done,  be- 
cause when  this  State  is  aroused  upon  an  educational  proposition 
it  never  turns  back. 


22 

ACTION  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 

In  the  course  of  the  two  days  following  the  delivery  of  the  fore- 
going address,  the  whole  matter  of  rural  school  supervision  was 
much  discussed  in  the  association,  and  finally  the  following  reso- 
lutions were  unanimously  adopted : 

1  Resolved,   That  the  unit  of   supervision  should  be  smaller, 
that  the  supervising  officer  should  devote  more  time  to  the  duties 
of  his  office,  that  the  compensation  be  so  increased  that  the  most 
efficient  service  may  be  secured. 

We  request  the  members  of  this  association  and  others  interested 
in  educational  matters  to  give  their  best  efforts  to  secure  these 
ends. 

2  Resolved,     That  this  body  request  the  State  Commissioner  of 
Education  to  draft  a  bill  embodying  the  principles  expressed  in  the 
resolution  just  adopted  and  along  the  lines  of  his  address  of  Wed- 
nesday evening,  looking  toward  improved  supervision  of  the  rural 
schools  of  the  State. 

and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  our  supervisory  and  legislative 
committees  be  instructed  to  render  all  possible  assistance  in  drafting 
and  securing  the  passage  of  such  bill. 


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